Quote:
Originally Posted by mbovaird
Thank you. I actually work from home ... so I can sneak up stairs for a few minutes throughout the day...and I do!
Fortunately, I have a 200 watt McIntosh SS amp at home, and I swapped it out this morning. As I sat there listening, I thought, "hey, it's holding its own thank you very much". Bass seemed MUCH tighter. Then I swapped back in the 2301's. Oh boy...was I wrong. The 2301's are just MORE of everything (at the same volume). Voices jumped out of the speakers, soundstage was wider, deeper, bass was "more", but not as tight as my SS Mc amp.
I'm not sure it was a fair fight (200w Mc SS amp vs 300w Mc Tube Monoblocks)...but it was all I had.
My dealer is willing to swap my 2301's for McIntosh 1.2's (plus the difference of $3500) - but I'm not sure I can bring myself to part with the 2301's. According to my calculations, I should only need 256 w/channel to achieve 110.4 db. But I guess there are peeks in there of almost double 256? No, I'm not listening at 110.4 db (closer to 96) - but the meters are hovering at or over 300w.
The complex crossovers in the Salon 2's likely takes biamping out of the question I suppose. I would love to put a pair of 601's on the bottom and use the 2301's on the mid/high - but not sure I can? I have the MEN220 and can use its active crossover. I have a call into Revel to discuss (their support is outstanding). They worked with me for almost 2 months (inching things along) to get my speakers properly placed. That's patience.
So the main issue I'm having with the 2301's is that I think the Salon 2's are driving them WAY too hard.
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I absolutely agree,they are straining your amps. When I was talking about the need for more power, I wasn't talking about loudness, I was talking about
"control"!! These speakers are very demanding on an amplifier and they need the amps to grab them by the nuts and tell them whose boss.
I understand your reluctance to part with the 2301's, they are, by all accounts, a fantastic pair of amps, but if you love the speakers I think you should at least demo the 1.2kw's in your system!.
Salon 2's can definitely be bi-amped, there is a dealer in Dallas that has his Salons bi-amped with 4 Mark Levinson No.53's!!
The regional rep from Revel told me it was amazing !!